I am feeding Lola (5 months) RAW medallions but recently my 5 year old started suffering with severe abdominal cramps and looser stools. I have taken 2 samples to the lab, one for parasites and one for culture and sensitivity and am awaiting the results.

I make sure that everything is as hygienic as possible, ie I use antibacterial spray to clean the sides that I use, remove the bowl as soon as she finishes, and wash everything in hot soapy water.

THEN I realized, the dog will go and pick her toys up and my kids will get the toys and throw them for her, and so on and so on. I try to tell them to wash their hands after playing with her but they are 3 and 5..

understandably I have to put the health of my children first so what would you suggest as the next best thing? my husband suggested cooking it, yes it will loose a lot of its benefits but is that still better than canned?

thanks for your help

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Mum to Autumn 5, Evie 3, both of the human variety
Taiji age 10, of the feline variety
Ziggy age 3, of the reptile variety
and Lola age 3 months, of the fluffy bichon poo variety

I would doubt the cramping and loose stools come from your dogs' medallions. It sounds like you are being vigilant with cleaning and, if you are using a good quality medallion, then parasites shouldn't be the issue.
Your daughter is five. Which means she is in school, yes? Which means she could be picking up things from the playground. Do you know how many people take their dogs for walks in the schoolyard never thinking about the kids playing there the next day? If there are sandboxes then I would think there are cats using the boxes as litter. In my area dogs have been banned from school yards. It doesn't stop people. They still take them there. It's a nice big open green area. And there isn't much to be done about strays using the boxes unless they are covered nightly.
Maybe your daughter has picked up a bit of a bug from one of her classmates.

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Assumptions do nothing but make an ass out of u and me.

We can stick our heads in the sand for only so long before it starts choking us. Face it folks. The pet population is bad ALL OVER THE WORLD!

I fed raw to my rottie girl when my son was 3,4,5 years old - chicken backs drug out to the carpet to eat , shared with the cat, cleaned the boy's face and all sorts of other horrendous, non-sanitary behaviour going on there. The boy never got sick. If your child is ill, I think I would look at outside sources.

I too would be looking at outside sources. 5 year olds experience a lot of changes in the world around them, which can result in anxiety or nerves about going to school, extra-curricular activities, etc... which can lead to cramps and digestive issues whether or not there is a raw-fed dog around.

You may want to ask yourself how she is doing at school, whether she is processing new information about the world around her (expectations, friendships, fatigue coming up to the end of the school year, etc) that could lead to an inability to fully process what's happening (often inability to mentally or emotionally process go hand in hand with inability to physically and physiologically digest).

Another thing might be changing teeth or growth spurts. The teething process (even in older children) leads to a changed pH of the saliva, which can upset the tummy. Growth spurts can be physiologically exhausting, which can lead to incomplete digestion.

Either way, I wouldn't look at raw food for Lola as the first course of action.

"Many of the Earth's habitats, animals, plants, insects, and even micro-organisms that we know as rare may not be known at all by future generations. We have the capability, and the responsibility. We must act before it is too late." - Dalai Lama

We have 10 week old baby and we feed our dog RAW food.
We don't let Phoebe lick the baby right after eating, but other than that we take no more precautions than we normally would. Both the baby and the dog are extremely healthy. There is no danger to babies or children from feeding your dog RAW food. When dogs chew and gnaw on bones, they produce an antibacterial enzyme in their saliva. This keeps their mouth clean and their teeth healthy. That is a great benefit of feeding RAW.

Please consider that even if your dog never ate a stitch of raw food, your dog licks his own genitals, ( including other dog's genitals), the floor, the wall, roadkill, ikkies outside in the grass... all kinds of things that are far more likely to effect a child than any raw meat will.

Frankly, it's a good practice to NOT let your dog lick your child's face, raw or no raw.

I really seriously doubt that raw food has anything to do with your child's runny stools. Dogs are dogs are dogs and have spend most of the lives picking things up in their mouths that we never will to tell you the truth!

In fact, that your dog will stop eating carbohydrates will actually serve to reduce the bacteria growth in his mouth.